Brand New
by ThisBeautifulInsanity
Summary: Carmindy never expected that their fresh start at a normal life would lead her to La Push. Nor did she expect that their neighbor would be a cocky, egotistical jerk that drove her insane on a daily basis. Past that, she never expected to fall in love with him. Though the real shocker? For him to turn into a giant furry dog. Maybe she just wasn't cut out for "normal". PAUL/OC
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

I remember the day I met Paul Lahote as if it was yesterday.

It was a pretty un-normal day for us, as we had just moved to La Push four days ago, my older sister claiming that she wanted embrace our Quileute routes, despite the fact that she had showed no interest _whatsoever_ in seeing the land our late father had come from ever before. Avoidance had slipped into the role of her best friend over the last six months, so I guess it was only a matter of time before she finally cracked living under the roof of the house we had grown up in, a house that despite all the good memories, now left the both of us with empty, painful reminders of what would never be again.

So, with very little notice Natalie had called a realtor and our little house in Quincy, Washington was sold in less than month, leaving us with lots of packing and little time to do it. We had managed though, and together we said goodbye to the only place that we had ever called home. Which is what brought us to this little rainy reservation.

La Push was a completely difference atmosphere than our hometown, and it was nothing like I expected. Not that I had really had too much of an expectation, as this place and it's history had never been a prominent part of my life, even with it taking up half my ancestry.

My father had been the one born and raised in La Push, growing up with his single dad, who had passed away when he was nineteen, which is when he had met our mother, fallen in love and gotten married. The epic love story had lasted a while, though I had never gotten to witness it. My dad died when I was two so I had never known him. My mother and Natalie had told me stories of him, and I had a book of old Quileute stories and Legends, but otherwise my heritage had never played an important role in my life until now.

Natalie had taken it upon herself to pick the "perfect house" and while neither of us had seen it in person the pictures had been lovely, and she had sent the cheque for first and last month's rent immediately. My sister was quick to get stars in her eyes and jump into things – and as bad as I thought the idea of renting a place without seeing it in person first was, I didn't correct her on it, glad to see her happy for the first time in months.

So I was just happy to see it live up to expectations the first time we saw it. It was as tiny as it looked in the photos, but there was something charming about it, with brown siding, a flower garden in the front and a cottage-like feel as it was located on a street with a row of houses backing into the forest. The word "quant" that had been used in the ad was a perfect description.

"I _love_ it." Natalie said as she opened the front door, walking into the house with a watery smile on her face. "Carmindy, isn't it great?" I followed after her less exuberantly, nodding slowly as I took in the interior. It was completely open, with the eat-in kitchen leading straight to the living room which led to three sets of doors, which I assumed were the two bedrooms and bathroom. It wasn't overly large, with no hidden stairs or hallways anywhere, and despite it being nothing more than a foreign space it had potential to become something more for us.

Since the house already had furniture in it we moved the rest of our stuff in pretty quickly with just the two of us. It took Natalie no time after that to start meeting all of the neighbors, which I left her to do by herself while I stayed inside, preferring to read and keep to myself. She had always been a social butterfly like our mom. To my surprise they had always told me dad was the same way, which obviously made me the oddball out. Not that I really cared, so long as I had a cup of coffee and a good book I was more than happy by myself while someone else did the socializing. Unfortunately, Natalie had hit it off _especially_ well with our one neighbor, Wendy Lahote, who happened to have a son that was my age. This, of course, meant that all of us just _had_ to get together for supper.

Then we can just flash forward later that night to the dinner from hell.

Wendy and Natalie tried. They really did. Both of them seemed to be getting along like they were old friends, and it wasn't either of their faults that both Paul and myself were anti-social, non chatty individuals who despite being the same age, had absolutely no interest whatsoever in getting to know each other, or interact like normal, conversational human beings during dinner.

In fact sitting across from him and staring at his dark eyes and cocky smirk, I was particularly un-chatty. I had been from the moment I stepped through the door and he swept his uninterested thou-is-mightier look over me, lingering a nanosecond and a half too long on my chest, then raising his eyebrow at my forced smile turned grimace at him. I wasn't terrible looking, but I also kept myself hidden under baggy flannel and glasses. He might have been a decent human being, if he wasn't such a cocky asshole and typical teenage boy (something I greatly disliked). Basically, it didn't take either of us long to realize we had no interest in each other.

It took, however, about a half hour into the meal for us to realized that we quite disliked one another.

"So you two are only a year apart. Isn't that great?" Wendy said brightly, finally coming out of her conversation with my sister to realize that the two of us still weren't hitting it off. (It was also the second time she had mentioned this fact, and the fourth she had used the term 'isn't that great').

I grimaced. Then I noticed Natalie's glare and tried to lift the corners of my mouth an inch higher into a smile instead. "It's..great."

"Maybe if you two had a conversation you'd find some things in common." Natalie pushed.

"Yes!" Wendy chimed in. "Paul's a big fan of cars. He has a motorcycle, which took me a while to get used to but he just loves it."

"I, uh, don't really know anything about cars. I only turn sixteen next year so won't have my licence until then."

"Carmindy's really good at school. She's actually a really dedicated student." Natalie interjected when she realized I wasn't in a hurry to supply the Lahote's with a variety of my interests.

"Seriously? Who actually likes school?" Paul added, though the question was directed at me rather than my sister. "Paul!" Wendy hissed. I narrowed my eyes at him. "People with intelligence." I shot back in a tone that implied that I doubted he had any. Natalie gasped "Carmindy." but to be fair, by that point both Paul and I were too busy with each other to pay any attention to our authority figures.

"Funny, that's what I would call a nerd. Let me guess, you don't even have a boyfriend back where you came from?"

"No, but at least I have a reason not to since I focus on school cause I actually want to go somewhere with my life. What's your excuse? Nobody wants to put up with your _great_ company?"

"Actually I do have a girlfriend."

"Oh she must just be a _gem_ herself."

"Well, she's a lot easier to get along with then you."

"Seriously?! I like to read. I like books. Sorry that's so hard to wrap your big head around!"

"I think you're the big headed one. And I'd rather watch a movie."

Clenching my jaw I stood up just as he did. Cue the awkward silence around the room. I tried to be as polite as I possibly could in my aggravated state. "Thanks for the dinner Wendy, it was great but I think I better get home. I'm getting tired, though I might try and get some reading done." I sent a pointed glanced at Paul as I said this. "Mom, I think I'm gonna head out for tonight too. Maybe spend some time with my _girlfriend._ " He said back.

"I-well-I, uh-yes, okay... It was lovely having you over Carmindy. Maybe you can... come and visit again... sometime."

I smiled at her. _Not if your son is going to be around._ "Yes, thanks again for the meal Wendy. Nat, I'll see you at home?" My sister nodded, giving me a look that said we would be having a talk later tonight. I sent them both another tiny smile and hightailed out of there and through the front door back to our house without so much as a backwards glance.

Okay, so our first impression was anything but nice, but it was the beginning.

* * *

 **Soooo... this is the start of a new fic. It's just an idea so far though I'm hoping to continue with it and see if everything falls into place and goes where I want it to. I don't own Twilight (obviously) but my own characters are my own (obviously ;)). I know, very short, sweet and too the point for a first chapter, but I wanted to just dive into the story and all it's little quirks, and am excited to see where it leads!**

 **It is a Paul/OC story, and no he is not a wolf (yet!)  
** **Reviews are encouraged and very much appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: What's mine is mine and what's not is Stephanie Meyers. Well, with this story at least. ;)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWO**

So it's easy to say that Paul and I didn't exactly get off on the right foot, but realistically it shouldn't have been that surprising. He was an arrogant, loud-mouthed, short tempered teenage guy who liked to work on cars, ride his motorcycle and play girls (this was pretty easy to figure out after the 3 different girls over the course of 3 weeks that were coming over constantly to "hang out" when his mom was out.) I was engrossed in studying (despite the fact it was summer vacation) and keeping my nose buried in a book with a hot drink by my side, rather than going to out to make friends or getting involved in the latest scandal.

We ran in different circles, and were very different individuals. Throwing us together in a small room and trying to force us to "make friends" was just a problem waiting to happen. After our little mishap neither Wendy or my sister tried to put us in that situation, preferring to act as we hadn't practically been at each others throats during that first supper.

Despite it, those two actually grew closer and I found that I had grown to like Wendy as well. My sister was ten years older than I was, and taking on the roll of a guardian since our mom had passed whereas Wendy was a single mother (and a fairly young one at that) with nobody other than her son (who I gathered was enough trouble on his own) and her husband... well nobody spoke of him so I figured it was best to leave it at that. They had a few things in common in that way, and I was just happy that Nat accumulated so quickly while me, well, I wasn't complaining either. A change of scenery hadn't been a horrible idea.

We coped, and I even started to like rainy little La Push. Our house was small and quant, and missing my mom was a lot harder when those everyday reminders of her that were scattered in our old house just weren't there in this one. Slowly, very slowly, we were moving on.

And then there was still Paul. Obviously we weren't each others biggest fans, so we just avoided each other for the most part, which wasn't too difficult despite living next door to each other. He went his own way and I went mine and neither of us made any attempts to start any fights, though little jabs and aggravations were open game for both of us whenever we passed by _but_ overall, I found out that he wasn't an completely terrible person. He was just kind of a jerk, and speaking of Paul...

I glanced up from my book when I heard a commotion coming from the lawn to my right. Because Of course, who else would it be but Paul Lahote and his latest girlfriend? Cue an eye roll on my part here.

"You are such a lying, two-timing bastard!" I blinked at the choice of words, watching Paul get out of the passenger side of a mini coop while the girl driving had the window rolled down and was practically hanging out of it screaming profanities at him. He let her spit out every choice word she had in her vocabulary (not a lot, by the way) before he finally rolled his eyes and replied. "I didn't freaking cheat on you."

"YOU FUCKING LIAR!" She shot back. "NOBODY WOULD BREAK UP WITH ME UNLESS THERE WAS A REASON!" By the looks of things, including her angry, vivid red face and phenomenal conversation skills I would have to personally disagree with her.

"Don't be such a bitch!" Paul shouted back.

"Me? Are you fucking kidding me. Well, here's something for you to think about Lahote. I AM BREAKING UP WITH YOU!"

I snorted loudly, book forgotten. Slapping a hand over my mouth I tried to hold another one back in but it was too late at that point. I was close enough that they heard me, and of course the she-devil sitting in the car zoned in on me, unfortunately. "Is that her!? It is, isn't it! You would breaking up with me for THAT?!"

My mouth fell open, and did Paul's as his head went back and forth looking from me to her. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He finally sputtered out. Silently, I echoed that sentiment, but before either of us could work up a rebuttal to deny the accusation the girl hurled a large McDonald's cup out the window at Paul and with his distracted stare at me he didn't notice it coming until it hit him straight on the side of his head and he was completely soaked in soda. The girl screamed a final "FUCK YOU" before spinning away.

My jaw had yet to close at this point, and he turned to look at me with a glare just as the first laugh burst out of my mouth. "Seriously?!" He shouted angrily. I giggled, managing to work out "Maybe if you didn't sleep with half of La Push that wouldn't be an issue." between snorting laughs. "She was from Forks." He grumbled, heading for the door. "See! You've already worked your way through the rez. Careful, if you keep it up you'll have to start going another town over for a date."

"Har, har" He jingled the knob to the front door of his house and I realized his problem before he did. "Um, do you have a key on you?"

"No." He looked at me. "Why?"

"Your mom and my sister went to Port Angeles to go shopping."

His hand fell off the doorknob as he stared at me. "Seriously." He repeated for the second time in five minutes. Finally managing to get my laughter until control I nodded grimly. "Seriously." Then I promptly burst out laughing again. He was grumbling something under his breath, lightly kicking his door as I placed my bookmark at the page I had been on since him and his girlfri-ex girlfriend showed up with their little soap opera. While he didn't look crushed that one of his many week long relationships had come to a end, his entire t-shirt was soaked through with sticky liquid and he was stuck outside for at least another couple hours until his mom got home and I almost kind of felt bad for him.

 _Almost._ Then I reminded myself he had brought it upon himself.

Contemplating my next move silently, I finally relented. "Would you like a towel?"

"Are you trying to be nice or something."

I raised my eyebrows. "Well I was, but I can always take back the offer if you don't want it."

"No, uh a towel is good. I guess."

Rolling my eyes at his tone I threw my book onto the blanket and went in the house and grabbed a towel, running it under the tap to soak it through, then I grabbed another dry one as well to take out with me. He was waiting where he had been when I went inside, and I threw the towel at him and sat back onto the blanket, going back to my book without much more care regarding his wellbeing. What I didn't expect was him to take off his shirt and promptly sit down next to me on the blanket as he ran the towel through his hair and over his shoulders.

Tossing my book down in exasperation I willed my eyes to stay on his face when acknowledging him. I wasn't used to shirtless guys but regardless, I most certainly was _not_ going to let Paul Lahote get to me because he was sitting next to me half naked. "What are you doing?"

He gave me an 'are you stupid' look. "Sitting here until my mom gets home."

"That could be hours."

He just looked at me blandly.

"Don't you have friends or something?" I asked.

"I do but you don't so I figure that I'm doing you a favor since you did me one."

I sputtered "Oh don't do me any favors for my sake. Please."

"Too late now." He grinned, and I was surprised to admit that it actually wasn't a sarcastic or mocking one for once. If anything, the genuineness was almost... sweet, with a youthful boyish charm to it that I had yet to have seen from him since moving next door. I bit my lips as my stomach twisted into a knot. Paul was not sweet by any means, and those were thoughts that needed to be pushed far out of my mind, like, now.

"Whatever, just don't bug me while I'm trying to read." Ignoring the incredulous snort he let out at the statement, I promptly went back to my novel, managing to read a few chapters during the moments of peace when he was quiet, which were few and far between as we spent the next couple of hours lounging on my front yard bickering. Despite the jibes back and forth, it wasn't a completely horrible time, and we might have even joked around a bit before Wendy and my sister rolled in, each getting out of the car with matching looks of curiosity and interest. Perhaps that was even worry floating around in Wendy's expression for a minute there.

My sister cleared her throat when they were close enough. "Do I want to know what's happening here?"

I didn't glance up from my book, nor give Paul a chance at input. "Paul pissed off his girlfriend, she dumped her soda all over him. He looked gross and was locked out of his house so I offered him a towel, and we've been sitting here since."

"Ex-girlfriend." Paul clarified. "And I dumped her, which is why she was pissed off. And I'd like to say we've been bonding." And the sarcasm was back, full force as ever. I snorted.

"Hey, call it what you will but I know the truth in my heart." I shut my book and looked at him. "We weren't bonding, and now that you have access to your house, and shower for the matter, I think we can call this little meeting to an end." With a bright, completely over exaggerated smile I got up and trotted up the walkway to our front door. I ignored the looks Wendy and Nat exchanged, ignored the trickle of laughter that was dying to bubble out of my mouth at the whole situation, and tried (though failed) to ignore Paul calling out "It was a fun date!"

"Wasn't a date." I called behind me.

"You're right. I'd never go out with you."

"The feeling's mutual." I turned, gave him a two finger salute and grin, and walked inside to the cool AC'd air in the house. Natalie followed close behind, trailing me into the kitchen while I leaned over to grab a bottled water out of the fridge. Her eyes twinkled. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Deniability will get you no where." She told me jokingly.

"I'm not denying anything."

"Okay, fine." But she stood there staring at me expectantly. I raised my eyebrows, waiting for her to continue knowing by the look on her face that she had tons more to say. "Okay, so I really think you should get out, past "hanging out" with Paul." I protested, loudly. "Okay, so this was a one time thing. Still maybe apply some places, get a job... it might help you get to know some people and make friends, maybe even make some money for the summer. You know, get you acquainted to the area."

The idea of getting a job gave me more anxiety than I would like to admit, but I couldn't disagree that it was a good one. Sitting at home doing homework wasn't making me money, and back in Quincy I had always had a constant job as the babysitter for our neighbors two young children, who I watched before and after school (on top of walking them there and back every day), as well as practically living over at their house on the weekdays during summertime. Because of it I had always had money saved (I still did actually, as I was a watchful spender) and the idea of not sitting at home, especially with Paul, was appealing. It even helped override my nerves. "Okay, I'll look around sometime."

"Good. And oh, about Paul. If anything happens..."

"I'll be the first to tell you. But just as I'm telling you now Nat, nothing will."

She only sent me a knowing look (no doubt to annoy the crap out of me) and pranced out of the room, her purposeful smirk practically lingering behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

The next day I decided to follow Nat's advice and asked her to drop me off in Forks, a handful of resumes sitting in my bag. It's strap seemed to be weighing down my neck, but I tried to push away my nerves the best that I could. Getting a first "real" job was inevitable, and other teens did it every day. The stress I was feeling right then was seriously uncalled for.

My resume was pretty basic, though nicely organized and well thought out, covering my babysitting and CPR course, volunteer work as well as well as years experience actually babysitting for my then neighbors, who had left a glowing recommendation praising how much easier I had made their lives working for them over the years. Overall they weren't too shabby, and if they didn't get me a job I don't know what else would. When it came to childcare, I would be the top of the list, though unfortunately a small town such as this one wasn't overflowing with people looking for complete strangers to babysit their children.

So, the job search began, and then it continued. And continued. I walked slowly around Forks, handing in several to different places, with pretty uninteresting results. Most of them left me with a "we're not hiring in the moment, but we'll keep it on file" that left me deflating slowly, and the stupid sinking feeling of small towns only hiring Jim, who was a friend of a friend of a cousin who already worked there seemed to ring true. Actually, the last place had actually given me the equivalent of that response, which left me rolling my eyes right in front of the worker before I realized what I was doing.

Yeah, she hadn't even waited until I made it out the door before throwing my resume in the trash. So overall, I was on a roll.

I had been wandering around aimlessly for what seemed like a lifetime before stumbling along a little diner nestled near the outskirts of time. There was a huge "Now Hiring" sign hung on the window, next to the bold letters "STEVE AND MARY's PLACE", and it only took me a split second of hesitation before I pulled open the door and made my way in. It was small, a little dated and quite homey (like most things around here, I was coming to realize), with only a few patrons hanging out and the prominent smell of bacon and freshly brewed coffee lingering in the air.

The waitress behind the counter glanced up at the chime of the door opening and sent me a small, albeit welcoming smile. "Feel free to take a seat wherever dear and I'll be right with ya in a second."

"Oh, I was actually just going to leave you a resume since I noticed you guys were hiring." I said slowly, walking up towards the counter and pulling out one of my sheets simultaneously. She paused, setting down the rag that she was holding and accepting the resume. She ran her eyes over it quickly, than back up at me. "You got a minute?"

"I-uh-" Having got used to the past four 'thanks, I'll keep it on file's' I hesitated at the turn of events "-I mean, yes, I-uh-do. Uh, have a minute."

"Perfect." She walked towards the window that led to the kitchen where the food was handed out, howling "Steve! Get out here for a sec!"

My eyes widened and lips twitched. Apparently "quant and quiet" weren't the appropriate words to describe this place.

She looked back at me. "We're just a bit short staffed at the minute with two waitresses quitting in the last week, and Steve's not the best judge of character when hiring so we've had a bunch of morons and lazy teens that live in this itty bitty town applying, hence the unreliability thing. You look respectable enough and I'm guessing you're new so-" she shrugged "-anyways I'm Marlene."

I reached out my hand "Carmindy."

"So, are you new around here then? Since everybody knows everybody and I've never seen ya?"

I laughed. "Yeah, we just moved to the Rez from Quincy."

"Hmm... Well you look like you've got a good head on your shoulders, and this ain't a bad job by any means so just don't let Steve scare you away."

"The only person scaring her away'll be you with your gossip." Came a gruff voice from the swinging kitchen doors. My gaze followed to see it belonged to an older man, presumably Steve, who was of average height, slightly plump and had shaggy grey hair with a scruffy beard to match. He was wearing a stained white apron, and though he looked every bit the scraggly old man who didn't give a damn of others opinions, I noticed that his eyes were scanning me over thoroughly, analyzing me in a way no idiot would.

I reached out my hand politely while Marlene rolled her eyes at him. "I'm Carmindy Michelson."

He rubbed his palm on his apron, briskly giving my hand a firm shake. "Steve Dene. I own this place with my wife."

My lips quirked. "Mary?" I guessed. He chuckled. "Nothing gets passed you young whipper snappers these days eh? You got a minute for an interview?" That definitely wasn't what I was expecting in under ten seconds of meeting him, but I'd take it. "Yes." He grabbed my resume from Marlene, not even bothering to look at it as he settled into a booth in the far corner of the diner, motioning me to sit across from him. "So you say you just moved here."

"Yes, me and my sister. We're just outside of La Push." He glanced up when I left out my parents, but didn't question it further.

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"Hmm. So you don't drive? How are you going to make it to work? I need someone reliable."

"I am very reliable. My sister is pretty flexible and very willing to drive me. Though I could always ride my bike out too if need be."

"Hmm... And it looks like you have some good references, though you've never worked at a restaurant." It wasn't really a question. I didn't know what that tone of voice meant either, since it was pretty neutral. "Yes, and I have numbers you can contact for references. And no, but I am a hard worker, and babysat for 3 years which involved taking care of and cooking for the kids, so I'm used to handling food and cleaning and such."

"Well, that's good. Sometimes I think half the customers are a bunch of kids." He chuckled to himself. I awkwardly giggled along, not having the slightest clue how to answer. "And you're looking to work full time?"

"For the summer? Yes, I'll take as many hours as you can give me. Though I'd like to stay on part time when I'm back to school as well."

"Hmm." He was quiet, and frankly if he said 'hmm' one more time I was going to lose it out of pure nervousness and blow the rest of the interview completely out of the water. "Would you say you've got a sense of humor Carmindy?" He asked out of the blue. I froze, wracking my brain for a response. This definitely wasn't apart of my "Questions you might be asked at a Job Interview" flash cards. Folding my hands to stop their twitching, I worried my lip between my teeth. "I-I guess?"

He raised his busy eyebrows.

"Good, because you have to if you're going to be working here. Look kid, everything looks good on paper here and I know we all gotta start somewhere. Experience will come once you've worked and you seem like a hard worked. Dedicated, and all that, but we've got a pretty good work family going on here, and I need someone that's gonna fit in. So whoever's working for me has to have a pretty damn good sense of humor to fit in with us nuts."

"I think I can do that. Just give me a chance." He stared at me hard, making me squirm, and I wasn't sure what he was looking for, exactly, but whatever it was he must have figured it out, as the next question out of his mouth was "How soon can you start?"

Did that mean...?

"Anytime." I answered hesitantly. He smiled. "Good, then I'll get you an apron and you can start training with Marlene. We'll start picking up for lunch in about an hour so get yourself ready."

* * *

I fell into a pretty easy routine after that, and I found that working at the diner was something I enjoyed, and did pretty well at, and while I had initially been nervous at starting on the note of "I'm just handing in a resume - oh wait? Start right away? This minute, okay!" it didn't take me long to get the hang of things, and Marlene had me trained in a couple days time.

Steve also hadn't been exaggerating when he told me they had an interesting work family, with a unique environment that I quickly realized probably wasn't the norm in any other place. They didn't have a lot of staff either, with me filling in as a full time waitress that brought the total of us to six people, including Steve and his wife Mary. Both practically lived and breathed at this place, (which was technically true as they lived in the apartment on top of the building.) and between the two of them they split the cooking and serving whenever need be. Both of them were gruff, with a particular sense of humor, though it was easy to see that they adored the place and everything that came with it (including us employees.)

Besides them was Benny, who despite being your All-American red blooded male with his bright eyes, blond hair and dimples (in fact, I had learned that he played football in high school, about twelve years ago), had a love for Italian food (and talent of cooking it - seriously, there was a spaghetti and meatball dish on the menu named after him) so he had earned the nickname Vito Bennito around the place, and he was the primary chef, alternating the position between Steve and himself.

Then there was Marlene of course, who I learned was in her mid-forties, married to a husband that worked in a factory in Port Angeles, with 3 kids. She was constantly picking up shifts and doing overtime, but despite the fact she was scrambling for cash, it didn't wear down on her, and she didn't complain about it (well, too much). Lastly there was Geenie, who was a college drop out, and just a genuinely nice person trying to make it work as a single mom with her two year old son, who she adored more than life itself, even with all the flirting she did around the restaurant.

Which is what she was doing this exact minute, with none other than Benny, who all joking aside, had it bad for her in the worst way possible. "You know you'd be the perfect women for me anyways, even if your hair didn't smell like French fries."

"And your meatballs are just so amazing, how could I resist?"

He sighed dramatically. "My heart, my soul."

"My paycheck." Steve interjected. "Which is what you're not going to be getting unless you quit your flirting and get your asses back to work. I'm done for tonight, I'm sure you three can handle the last couple hours without me." He eyed Benny, Geenie and I, almost like he was having second thoughts about the statement. Benny fanned himself. "ooh, going to have some alone time with the Missus? Just don't be too loud til we close up, you know we can hear at that stuff upstairs."

I slapped a hand over my mouth, though it did nothing to stop the giggles from escaping regardless. Geenie just sent a wink and a grin before grabbing the order that Benny had just placed in the window and taking off towards her table. Steve just glared, but ultimately choose not to respond with what he was thinking, probably a good thing considering it was Saturday just slowing down after dinner rush, and it was still fairly crowded. "Have a good night Steve." I called to his back, earning a grunt as he disappeared into the back, where the second door to their apartment led.

Benny laughed along with me, his green eyes twinkling. "You know exactly how to get him riled up." I said, but the smile couldn't be wiped off my face. He shook his head, "He needs it. Besides, he actually loves me for it." We chuckled together at that, when I heard the chime of the door and turned around, "Hey, how are you tod-" The question died on my lips when I noticed it was Paul, with a couple of his friends, standing there. "Oh, it's you."

His eyebrows were raised as well. "Since when do you work here?" He blurted out, obviously as surprised as me. I felt a spark of my temper flare up at the tone, but swallowed the bitter taste rising in my throat. "Since a week ago."

"Week and a half." Benny added, the eavesdropper. "If you want to be specific."

"Another place I can avoid now. As if it wasn't enough just seeing you at home every day."

I tried to keep me tone lighthearted, doing a fantastic job at hiding the distain. "Relax, I'm at work, I have to be nice to you. No delightful banter here."

"How exciting." He said blandly, before being distracted by one of his friends about where to sit, then strolling over to an empty booth near the back. I watched them go from the corner of my eye, so blatantly focused on watching them while trying to pretend I wasn't watching them that I wasn't paying attention to much else. "Teenage drama?" I jumped, gasped and clutched the front of my shirt to whirl around and glare at Benny practically hanging out the window to the kitchen, breathing down my neck.

"No!" I snapped.

"You sure are pretty touchy about it if there's no drama going on there. I have three younger sisters, I know the signs."

Geenie came back around the counter, reaching through the window to knock Benny's shoulder. "Ignore him Carm, and don't worry, I've got their table covered if you want."

A breath of relief left me. "Seriously? Thank you."

"Teenage drama." Benny said in a sing song voice, but I just rolled my eyes at him this time, another mini-panic avoided for the night. Well, except for an hour later when they came up to pay and and Geenie was literally nowhere to be found. Inwardly groaning I plastered a fake smile onto my face, cashing out his friends with a gusto I didn't feel, telling them to have a great night even after one of them blatantly tried to look down my shirt and the other didn't bother with even talking to me. They were real charmers, those boys.

Then Paul came up and my smile, which had been dimming during the last check out, fell right off my face. He seemed just as thrilled as I was about the impending four minutes of unavoidable conversation. "Oh, it's you." Pause. "What happened to that hot waitress we had?" He questioned. I rolled my eyes, more at the degrading comment about Geenie, rather than him throwing my words from earlier back at me.

"She's way too classy for you. Not too mention you're a little young to be throwing the charms on her."

"Age is just a number." He said back cockily.

"Maturity isn't though. And that's something you're greatly lacking." A spark flashed in his eyes, gone in only a second, but I could see the edges of his temper rising. As much as he drove me batshit crazy, I had learned exactly how to get him worked up. Admittedly, that wasn't hard to do either, since his temper wasn't much of a hidden secret. The next bit went quicker than I expected thankfully, and I rang up his bill, handing him the debit machine while studying something on the wall with great interest. When I heard the beep stating the sale had gone through I ripped off the receipts, handing him a copy with a smirk. "See you around Paul."

This time it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Only if I'm that unlucky."

* * *

 **Okay... I've been bad with this update, or more so just getting it up. Next time anyone is waiting feel free to throw on the caps and angry yell at me over the computer to get my ass in gear! That being said, I hope you enjoyed the continuation of Paul and Carm's... um... friendly banter?**

 **R/R Please!**


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